Secret No More
by Mistress Soul
Summary: A collection of short one shots and drabbles where Danny's secret gets revealed. Now Playing: Valerie, worried about Danny's strange behavior, does some digging and ends up on his computer. Formerly called Revealing One-Shots. NOTICE: Ratings and Genres vary story to story. Deception is currently under revision.
1. Table of Contents

****Table of Contents****

* * *

 ** **1.) All A Dream****

 _ _What, you really thought no one would notice a big flash of light?__

 _ _(K, Humor)__

 ** **2.) Oops****

 _ _Humans aren't supposed to be able to fly.__

 _ _(K, Humor)__

 ** **3.) Loud****

 _ _It was bound to get him into trouble eventually.__

 _ _(K, Humor)__

 ** **4.) Inversion****

 _ _Not everyone in Amity Park is dense.__

 _ _(K+, Mystery, Friendship, Humor, contains student OCS)__

 ** **5.) Careful****

 _ _Did you really think no one checked the cameras?__

 _ _(K, Humor)__

 ** **6.) Halfway****

 _ _Danny really needs to watch his mouth.__

 _ _(T, Angst, Suspense, mild Humor, dark)__

 ** **7.) Bilingual****

 _ _He's not the only one who knows Esperanto.__

 _ _(K, Humor, contains student OCs)__

 ** **8.) Voice****

 _ _She'd know that voice anywhere. Companion piece to Inversion.__

 _ _(K+, Humor, mild Friendship, contains student OCs)__

 ** **9.) Casual Friday****

 _ _Just what was up with the random costume changes?__

 _ _(K+, Humor, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort)__

 ** **10.) Mist****

 _ _Why does Fenton have a ghost sense?__

 _ _(K+, Mystery)__

 ** **11.) Cautious****

 _ _An extended version of Careful.__

 _ _(K+, Humor, brief mention of a student OC)__

 ** **12.) Deception****

 _ _Alexandria and Isa's friendship grows tense. Takes place after Inversion and Voice.__

 _ _(T, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Suspense, contains profanity/mature themes, dark, contains student OCs)__

 ** **13.) Password****

 _ _He really needed a better password.__

 _ _(K+ (maybe borderline T), Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Humor, slightly dark)__

 ** **14.) Class Trial****

 _ _Wes joins the Casper High Debate Team to try to convince everyone of the truth about Phantom. Takes place after Inversion, Voice and Deception.__

 _ _(Currently unrated, will contain student OCs)__

 ** **15.) Joyride****

 _ _In which Danny's parents convince the school to take a field trip to the Ghost Zone.__

 _ _(Currently unrated, will contain student OCs)__

 ** **To be continued...****


	2. All A Dream

Screams broke out as a intimidating ghost with a mohawk and mechanical suit floated above the park, terrorizing the citizens.

Sam, Tucker and Danny were trying to relax on a park bench for once, _just once_ , in their lives, before Danny's ghost sense went off.

And as if on cue, people began screaming and fleeing for their lives.

Danny immediately leaped into action and transformed, as Tucker and Sam brought out their weapons, but he forgot one _tiny little detail_.

There was a large crowd right behind him, who stopped in awe and fascination as they watched the twin rings go up and down his body. Gasps were heard as they recognized the sight of the town hero.

Danny looked at the aforementioned crowd with wide eyes, while Sam glared viciously at them. Meanwhile, Tucker was trying a different tactic.

"Uh, this is all a dream?" Tucker questioned, trying to hypnotize the crowd.

Sam hit Tucker in the elbow.


	3. Oops

Danny was tired.

Well, that shouldn't come as a surprise, should it? He was always tired. But today, he was _exhausted_. Seven ghost fights in one single night. He kept accidentally falling asleep, and he was hardly able to concentrate on what was going on.

His team was also failing miserably at dodgeball. The only two players on his team who were any good were Sam and Valerie. His team was mostly full of the nerds and "loser crowd". They were up against the athletes, jocks and "popular crowd". Also known as the A-Listers.

"Come on Danny, get it together!" Sam hissed. "We're about to lose!"

Dash loudly snorted. "Of course you're about to lose! It's not like you or Fentonia are any good at anything!"

Dash smirked and looked at his teammates. "Let's finish the game, shall we? Aim for Fenton!"

His buddies laughed obnoxiously, and did just that. There was a barrage of balls aimed at one person, Danny.

"Danny, watch out!" Sam yelled.

Danny's eyes suddenly widened, and he just _reacted_. He preformed a high leap up into the air.

Mouths began to drop, and eyes began to widen.

Danny was confused, still not fully sure what was going on. "What's wrong with everyone? It's not like there's a-"

Danny suddenly noticed what was happening. He was _floating_. In front of the entire gym class.

Even though he was mentally horrified and slapping himself repeatably, he just sheepishly grinned and said, "Uh, oops?"


	4. Loud

Danny thought it was going to be a normal day. He really, _really_ did. It had started off normally enough, at least. Flying to school only to get interrupted by the Ghost Zone's Worst Hunter aka Skulker and avoiding Valerie, aka The Red Huntress. So, he ended up being late for class. Again. As usual.

Nothing new there.

Thankfully, he hadn't sensed any ghosts in his first class, but right after first period was over, a blue mist came out of his mouth. Immediately, he bolted for the restroom, and made sure he was alone.

Since no one was in there, Danny said his usual catchphrase.

" _I'm going ghost!"_

However, unbeknownst to Danny, Dash had been curious for a while now to see where exactly his favorite punching bag went off to everyday. He was always in there way too long to actually be in the bathroom. Even he could see that. And who the heck returns from the restroom with injuries? Dash also just so happened to be passing by the bathroom Danny happened to be in.

Dash was just on his way to second period, but upon recognizing Fenton's voice, he was intrigued. He knew he was weird, but this took the cake. Going ghost? What the heck did that even mean? So, he opened the bathroom door...

...and saw Danny standing out in the open, with rings spreading over his body, quickly and visibly changing him into Danny Phantom.

Danny was about to fly off, until his gaze caught that of Dash's. He then began to look panicked.

Dash's eyeballs widened to the size of golfballs. "Y-you're Danny Phantom?" He asked, disbelievingly.

"I knew that catchphrase would get me caught sooner or later." He muttered.


	5. Inversion

Alexandria had always been more perceptive and imaginative than most people. Well before the existence of ghosts had become a proven fact to the world rather than a silly old myth, Alexandria had always found herself oddly fascinated with the supernatural. She would often spends hours upon hours researching all sorts of types of paranormal beings, including, but not limited to, vampires, werewolves, mermaids and of course, ghosts, and sometimes other things like psychics and astrology. She had been determined to investigate the paranormal for as long as she could remember, even if others thought her crazy for wanting to pursue fictitious beings that only existed in fairy tales and mythology.

But somehow, there was always this inexplicable feeling inside of her. Something that told her there was more that met the eye in this world. Yet she knew not why. But she felt as if she _needed_ to explore, to investigate. And so she did.

When ghosts first started appearing in her hometown of Amity Park and began their rampages of destruction, Alexandria felt a whole spectrum of emotions. Terror, surprise, anxiety, some determination, but also a hint of pride. That feeling she always had in her chest had not let her astray. Ghosts did exist! And after she finally received full confirmation that she was right in her beliefs, she began to wonder what other otherworldly beings were out there. But for the time being, she began to focus her attention to the ghosts.

One in particular had intrigued her most. The elusive and famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) town hero, Danny Phantom. She found many things about him rather interesting. The first was that he looked remarkably human, unlike the other ghosts who attacked the town, save for the white hair and unearthly white glow. The second was his remarkably strong resolve to defend Amity Park. The third was his demeanor. How nonchalant and snarky he acted in battle. How much he acted like a modern teenager.

Being an investigator at heart, that's exactly what Alexandria did: Investigate. She set out to solve the enigma that shrouded the mysterious ghost boy.

* * *

She looked through obituaries to try to see if she could discern who he was when he was alive, but found nobody that looked anything like him. Combined with the fact that she didn't know how he died, they were all but useless. Although she did find some information revealing some people who had rather _interesting_ ways of kicking the bucket. Like one guy who decided jumping into a volcano would be a great idea. Bizarre as it was, it didn't get her any closer to solving this mystery.

She then began to dive back into her books about the paranormal. Specifically, the ones about ghosts. She didn't learn anything she didn't already know by doing that, however. But one passage from a book reminded her of something that could potentially be a vital clue. " _Ghosts are formed when a human, or even an animal, feels strongly about a_ _ **desire**_ _before the moment of death, often referred to as an "obsession" in the paranormal ghost community. However, that desire, or obsession, does not necessarily have to be malevolent like so many believe. It could be as simple as a ghost dog wanting their most coveted toy in life back, or as complex as swearing absolute revenge on someone, ruthlessly hunting them down to the ends of the earth for a presumed wrongdoing back in life. Ghosts cannot "move on" until that desire, that obsession, is fulfilled, though some ghosts choose to remain even when their "unfinished business" has been completed, though the most benevolent of spirits can go straight to the Elsewhereness, while the most wicked go straight to the Unworld."_

Of course. An obsession. Judging from what she had just reread as well as what she already knew, Phantom's obsession would have to be a really strong, complex one. But what exactly _was_ it? If she had to harbor a guess, she would have to say it was defending Amity Park, or protecting those who cannot protect themselves. Perhaps even a combination of the two.

If she was correct in her assumption, then there was likely a reason why he protected the city so fervently. Maybe...because it used to be his hometown? That would be a logical conclusion. An emotional desire to keep his former hometown from destruction, which would mean Danny Phantom was a citizen in Amity Park before his death.

And his demeanor was so much like that of a modern teenager, that she could not help but speculate that his death have must have been very recent. He didn't use outdated lingo, and he appeared very up to date in what was happening in the world, which would be very unusual for a ghost who died centuries, or even decades, ago.

But one day, she had an epiphany. It was a pretty average day, too, at least at first. She was just walking through the Casper High School hallways, she and her best friend Isa in tow, the latter shooting a death glare that practically _dared_ anyone to come and mess with them, mostly directed towards the jocks and A-Listers who tried to bully them in the past. Isa, despite not even being able to see, had a rather impressive and terrifying death glare. Alexandria, while not giving a pointed death-glare to everyone in the hall like her friend was, still had an expression of careful neutrality, though her hazel eyes held a slight warning to those who looked closely enough at them. Alexandria had always been naturally passive, never willing to speak up or fight back, and back in Elementary School, when some jerk was verbally harassing her, Isa had appeared and come to her rescue, yelling at the bully to back off with a scary amount of passion, even threatening him. The jerk never bothered her again, and that was the beginning of a brand new friendship. Though Alexandria was still the more peaceful of the duo, she was no longer as meek as she once was, and she learned how to stand her ground.

While on their way to their first period together, science, a boy, breathing and panting heavily, accidentally bumped into them, causing Alexandria to lose her grip on her books, all of them clattering down to the floor. The boy's eyes were wide, and he began to apologize profusely. "I am so sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you guys like that! I guess I must have gotten less sleep than I thought. Heh, heh..." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Upon closer inspection, she realized that she knew who this boy was. It was the infamous Danny Fenton, Dash Baxter's personal bunching bag, and son of the "freak" ghost hunters. His raven black hair and icy blue eyes were very distinctive, as was his trademark white shirt with a red oval she always saw him wearing. But she suddenly noticed something else. He bent down, picked up her books, and handed them back over to her. "Sorry about that! I've gotta get going so I'm not late to Lancer's class!" And with that, he quickly ran off, before she or Isa could get a single word in.

But even though her time with him was brief, the aforementioned epiphany dawned upon her, and she couldn't help but release a gasp. She felt like a fool for not seeing it before. Swap black to white, blue to green, pale to tan, add a black and white hazmat suit and white glow, a minor echo to his voice, and she could easily see Danny Phantom in his place.

Phantom was an inverted image of Fenton! That was the key all along! And once she considered Danny's chronic absences and random bathroom breaks...

Could it really be possible? Could Fenton and Phantom truly be the same person?

A ghost, and a human, one entity?

It seemed impossible. No, it _was_ impossible, scientifically. Though she dabbled in the paranormal, Alexandria did not disregard actual science. One can not be dead and alive at the same time. But she was quite certain she could hear Fenton's heartbeat if she listened close enough, and she could certainly hear his ragged breathing. In all of her research, she knew that a ghost could not fake the signs of life. Which meant Fenton was still alive. She had never seen Phantom up close in person, so she had no way of knowing if his hypothetical heart was still beating, or if he had anything like a pulse, which would confirm her suspicions.

So, her theory seemed like a bust, but it explained so much. Then, she remembered something: Early in his Freshman year, Danny apparently had some sort of "accident". And since then, he's been acting weird. And if she took into consideration his parents and their experiments...

Maybe he was neither human nor ghost, but something in-between? Somehow supercharged with ectoplasm in a way that didn't kill him, but instead empowered him? She would imagine that Danny would have gotten quite a bit of exposure in his parents lab. Maybe that was connected to this fabled "accident". It was a long shot to be sure, but maybe?

It did not explain the different coloring, though. But considering she was dealing with paranormal territory, perhaps he had a way of shapeshifting or changing forms? She doubted he'd have enough time to do anything like change outfits, dye his hair color back and forth, and constantly swap colored contacts in and out in such a short amount of time.

Or maybe she was wrong and Phantom was just a ghostly imprint of Fenton. While that might seem more plausible, it does not explain why Fenton and Phantom are never seen in the same place or time, or why Phantom always shows up after Fenton disappears, and vise versa. It also didn't quite explain _how_ Phantom was an imprint of Fenton, unless that too was connected to the "accident".

But then there was that _feeling_ in her chest again. She didn't know why, but she just _knew_ they had to be the same person. It made too much sense. And there was other proof, too. Like the names. _Fenton._ _Phantom._ She had always thought that to be strange, but originally dismissed it as a coincidence since Danny was not exactly an uncommon name. Their voices were exactly alike too, save for the slight echo in Phantom's. Their face shape was the same. Even the hairstyle was the same. Ultimately, all that changed was his demeanor...

...and his colors inverting.

She almost laughed. All of this was very shocking to be certain, but she was amazed that something so simple, when examined closely enough, easily unraveled what otherwise seemed like an unsolvable mystery.

She didn't notice it, but she was smiling. She had finally done it! She had finally solved the mystery of the ghost boy!

But as soon as her smile appeared, so did her pride in her recent discovery, as did her smile. Instead, she began to frown. Clearly, this was a secret she was never supposed to find out, but found out nonetheless by digging her nose in too deep. And she knew that while Phantom was highly regarded as a hero by the majority of the town, there were still many haters, even some religious zealots, and plenty of ghost hunters eager to capture him and preform unspeakable horrors to him, should he be captured and strapped down in their labs. Even his own parents, she realized. Her blood ran cold at that thought. Her expression suddenly shifted into one of sheer determination. Even if she couldn't tell him about her newfound knowledge, she would not allow him to fall into the enemy's hands. No one else could protect the town but him, but that wasn't the only reason for her determination. Though no one else knew it (except presumably perhaps his sister and his friends, when she recalled some faint memories), he was not just a ghost, he was also human. She would never allow the Fentons, the Guys in White, the Red Huntress, _whomever_ , to get their hands on him. Because not only was he their protector, he was also a fellow student, and a human. One who bled and felt emotion as much as anyone else.

Though she didn't know _how_ she could protect him, exactly. Though Alexandria wasn't quite out of shape, she was no expert martial artist or anything of the sort, and she heard rumors that both Mrs. Fenton and the Red Huntress were ninth-degree black belts. She would not stand a chance in physical combat against people like them. Plus her sudden appearance and defense of Phantom would lead to a lot of unwanted suspicion on both ends, which meant physical involvement was a no-go.

So maybe she'd have to get more _creative_. Whatever it took, she would defend him and his secret, even if he himself did not know, and even if it was only from the sidelines. She would do whatever she could to help.

Suddenly, she was shook out of her thoughts by a familiar shout. "Hey, Earth to Alex! You've been making weird noises and staring off into space for several minutes now! If we want to get to class on time, we'd better hurry!"

Her hazel eyes widened. She always got so lost in thought like this. She's glad she has Isa to keep her grounded. "Sorry about that, Isa." She said apologetically, giving her friend a sheepish smile even though she knew her friend couldn't see it. Isa could probably feel the sheepish vibe coming from her, though. She knew her spacey friend quite well.

Isa just laughed. "We've been friends since fourth grade, you nerd. I'm used to you flying out to Outer Space by now."

Alexandria laughed as well, but it was more awkward and forced, and she hoped that Isa didn't catch on, even though she knew she probably would. "Well, we'd best get to class, huh?" She said as casually as she could, but she thought she could hear her voice waver a bit.

It looked like Isa's eyes had narrowed in suspicion for a few seconds, but just as quickly, her faded green eyes returned to normal. "Unless we want to end up in detention again, then yes."

"For the record, it was your idea, not mine!" The paranormal investigator protested.

"Hey, the math teacher said, and I quote, "do without the calculators and throw them out the window." I was only following his instructions!" Isa tried to counter.

"That didn't mean you had to throw mine out as well and drag me into detention with you!" Alexandria exclaimed.

Before they could argue further, the bell signaling the start of first period had rung. Both girls muttered profanities under their breath.

"We can settle this later. Maybe if we get there fast enough, we'll be let off with a warning." Alexandria reasoned.

"Sounds good to me. Now, come on, you space cadet! We've got to hurry!" Isa replied, before both of them booked it straight to first period.

And so the day continued, deceptively as normal as ever. But Alexandria could not get her thoughts off of her recent discovery. And as much as she wished she could tell Isa about it, she knew it was not her secret to share. As much as she hated it, and as guilty as it made her feel, she silently swore she would guard his secret from anyone else who dared looking. Even her best friend.

Life went on, too. The ghosts attacked, and Danny Phantom would fend them off. The ghost hunters had been strangely absent for a while, Alexandria had made sure of that in her own _creative_ way.

But she had underestimated Isa's own perceptiveness. As the paranormal investigator in training would soon find out, she was not the only one who knew something she wasn't supposed to...

* * *

 **This is the first story where a student OC finds out! Alexandria and Isa, the OC's featured in this story, are completely of my own creation. There is another story up in this collection, called Voice, focusing on Isa, though it is shorter because Isa already found out during the story, while in this one, Alexandria had to gradually make observations before realizing the truth.**

 **And for those of you who don't like OC's, don't worry. While Alexandria and Isa will have major involvement in certain one-shots, they will play very minor roles in others, and sometimes, their only role will be a cameo. In others, they won't appear at all. If you don't like Alexandria and/or Isa, you can skip the stories they're involved in. I do want to mention that neither OC was created for anything like a love interest, however. Both of these characters were invented to fulfill a role for this one shot collection, and I intend to develop any major character OC's like Alexandria and Isa into likable, three-dimensional characters.**

 **Also, for any returning readers who might be confused, there was another story of the same name called Inversion in this collection, focusing on Alexandria, but I felt like it was too much of a rip off on another person's story, so I went and revised it, and also decided to make Alexandria and Isa friends instead of two separate loners.**

 **Anyways, as always, thank you to all my reviewers. And since I can't thank one such reviewer (TheLazyWhiteCat) personally, I will do so here. I hope that everyone has enjoyed my take on an outsider finding out Danny's secret!**


	6. Careful

Mr. Lancer sighed, boredly watching the security camera footage.

They hadn't really needed to check the footage in a long time, but since some burglar broke in and stole some computers (why he broke into a school to steal computers was beyond him), he was under orders to check the camera footage.

So far, he hadn't found anything, except a lot of footage displaying Dash bullying Danny and some other poor kids (he still winced with sympathy for the victims but alas, was unable to do anything about it due to Dash's status as the school football star) the popular crowd gossiping, and well, not much else.

But eventually, he was onto the bathroom cams. Yes, they had bathroom cams, disgustingly enough. Not inside the stalls however, mind you! He still shuddered at the thought, but shook it off, bracing himself for what horrors he may have to watch.

Then there was the first thing that had captured his interest all night. Daniel Fenton, or as he called him, Mr. Fenton, was in the bathroom, out in the open. But yet, he didn't seem like he needed to go. Although, to be fair, he never seemed like he had to go in class, either. He always seemed panicked, annoyed, frustrated or like he had some sort of responsibility that he had to attend to.

But here, Danny just looked determined. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, he raised his fists, and the halo shaped rings appeared around his waist.

Not too long after, the rings spread, and in Daniel's place was the town hero (or menace, depending on your viewpoint), Danny Phantom.

Lancer fell out of his seat, eyes bulged.

" _Phantom of the Opera!"_

* * *

 **Fun Fact: There actually have been burglaries at schools for computers. Don't ask me why, I have no idea.**


	7. Halfway

It was another usual flight to school getting interrupted. And also per usual, it was Skulker, again.

"Whelp! I will have your pelt adorned on my wall!" Skulker hissed, attempting to be threatening.

Danny just yawned, bored and long use to Skulker's (admittedly disgusting) threats. "Then why am I still here?"

Others on their way to school as well as civilians passing by stopped to watch the upcoming fight. To them, it was just more entertainment. Danny was too preoccupied in the skies, however, to pay attention to this.

It also looked like Danny touched a nerve with his remark, because Skulker growled and lunged forward with an eerily glowing green dagger. Danny easily flew to the side, avoiding the strike.

"You know, why not go after Vlad?" Danny asked, genuinely curious. He was the first half-ghost, after all. The original and most powerful. At least, for now. Danny was almost to Vlad's level, if not higher, so perhaps most powerful was now a modest claim.

Skulker didn't answer, instead charging up a vicious looking gun and aiming it at him. Meanwhile, while Danny was distracted, a helicopter somewhat in the distance had arrived at the beginning of the fight, recording and watching the conversation. He didn't notice that either, however.

"He's half-ghost too, you know." Gasps were heard, and Danny turned around to look for the source. His eyes widened as he realized his mistake and finally noticed the helicopter and citizens down below. Skulker maliciously grinned upon the slip up.

"Uh, did I say half-ghost? There's no such thing as a half-ghost! Nope!" In a rush to get out of the scene, he blasted Skulker with a powerful ecto-ray, sucked him into the thermos and speedily flew off with a very quick and abrupt goodbye, racing off to class.

* * *

School went by as it usually did, too. Getting shoved into lockers, using the bathroom or some other bad excuse to get out of class to fight some ghost, nearly falling asleep in class, passing notes, etc. All everyday occurrences.

He had almost forgotten about his little slip up earlier. Keyword being _almost._ He kept mentally smacking himself on the head for his careless slip up and called himself an idiot repeatedly. He really, really hoped those reporters bought his really lame excuse (alright, that was probably too hopeful), or thought it was some sort of joke. Or if nothing else, that they were merciful and kind enough to not broadcast it live.

Unfortunately, when he arrived back home, his hopes were crushed.

"Danny-boy! Come, check out the news channel!" Danny had a bad feeling he knew what his father was talking about, but followed anyway.

" _Breaking news!"_ Said the woman on the television, Tiffany Snow. _"An interesting exchange has been recorded between a strange looking ghost with a mohawk and our town superhero. But have you ever considered that perhaps, our town hero has a secret identity? But why would he have one, you may ask? You're about to find out why!"_

 _The scene changed to show the earlier scene with Danny and Skulker._

" _Whelp! I will have your pelt adorned on my wall!" Skulker threatened._

 _Phantom yawned in boredom and remarked, "Then why am I still here?"_

 _Skulker growled and started coming after the Phantom on the screen with the glowing knife, but the teen hero dodged with ease._

" _You know, why not go after Vlad?" He questioned, sounding curious._

 _There wasn't an answer to his question._

" _He's half-ghost too, you know." And then the gasps cut in, and Danny had turned around, eyes now widened with horror and surprise, and he scrambled to make an excuse._

" _Uh, did I say half-ghost? There's no such thing as a half-ghost! Nope!" Phantom blasted Skulker with a ghost ray, sucked him up into the thermos, and quickly flew off. "Bye!"_

The scene returned to Tiffany Snow. _"How interesting! And if you paid attention to where he was going, you can see he's heading to the direction of the high school. Could our hero be half-human as well as half-ghost and have a secret identity as one of the students? There will be ongoing investigations to find the answer. And now for the weather, with Lance Thunder!"_

Jack shut the television off, now with a guilty, shameful expression. "I for one hope that he isn't. Otherwise, it means we've been threatening to shoot and rip apart one of our own."

"But if he is, we definitely owe him an apology." Danny was actually surprised to hear this. They'd apologize and stop hunting him even if Phantom wasn't their son? That was a very good sign of his parents accepting him.

He briefly smiled. So there was some good news out of this whole mess. But that smile quickly faded as he realized something. He had mentioned that Vlad was a half-ghost as well! Danny was certain Vlad was going to kill him for this.

Sure enough, as soon as he returned to his room, his phone started ringing. He answered the phone. "Hello?" He asked.

"Daniel! Can you explain to me why you have suddenly revealed that the two of us are both, in fact, half-ghost?" Vlad seethed over the phone, his anger easily audible.

"Look, I'm sorry! I didn't think anyone was watching! It was an-" Vlad cut him off before he could finish.

"I don't care why you did it, boy! Just know you will pay for your insolence." The line went dead.

"Yep, I'm dead." Danny muttered to himself.

* * *

The next day, his secret identity was the talk of the school. He was listening to several conversations about it.

"He is definitely an A-Lister!" Paulina says, predictably. Danny saw this coming. After all, why would she think her "beloved" ghost boy was a "geek" or "loser"?

"To have gone undetected this long, I think he is one of the unpopular kids." Mikey, one of the nerds, theorized. Danny shivered a bit at this, despite not really feeling cold temperatures anymore. Mikey was definitely close. Too close.

"I think it's Jake Williams." A kid Danny didn't recognize said. Danny raised an eyebrow at this one. Why would they think he's Jake? Sure, Jake had green eyes and tan skin, and his hair was really blonde, almost white, but that's about it for similarities. His weight, height and features were off. Way off.

He's surprised no one guessed it was him yet. Reverse the colors and boom, you've got Danny Phantom.

Unbeknownst to him, however, someone did correctly guess his identity. Valerie. After learning about half-ghosts from the Danielle incident and watching Danielle transform, it wasn't that difficult to piece together. Plus there was a lot of other signs she smacked herself for not noticing.

"Um, Danny?" Sam questions, waving a hand in front of his face. "Danny!" He was then smacked out of his trance, not that he realized he was in one. He was too distracted listening to all the conversations.

"Oh, right." He responded, chuckling nervously. "Sorry."

"You better be careful, dude. Did you hear Mikey and some of the others, like Nathan? They think it's a unpopular kid." Tucker said nervously.

Danny knew about Mikey, but Nathan too? He cursed.

"What are we going to do?" He asked his friends.

"I don't know, dude." Tucker shrugged helplessly. "Distract them?"

"Redirect the suspicion?" Sam suggested.

Danny shook his head. "Apparently a lot of people already suspect Jake, although I'm not sure how long that will last. And I don't know if we can distract them from something this big. Besides, I don't want ghost hunters going after someone because they think it's me."

The bell started ringing, halting further conversation. The trio ran off to class.

"Hello, class." Said Mr. Lancer, a bald, overweight man, as everyone walked into the room and took their seats. "There actually will be no first period today. Mr. Masters, the mayor, has called a meeting. We will be going to the Auditorium."

Danny bit his tongue to prevent himself from screaming curses, and Sam and Tucker exchanged panicked looks, knowing of Danny's outburst towards Vlad.

* * *

"Hello Casper High students." Vlad greets. "Now I am sure you are all wondering about-" Suddenly, a vampiric looking ghost phases through the ceiling with a malevolent smirk. Said vampire ghost starts firing pink blasts and causes destruction to some of the objects like the microphone and some parts of the stage.

Mr. Masters feigned terror, and started going for the exit.

"This meeting will have to come at a later time. Run!" And with that, Mr. Masters bolted out the door, although the exits were then conveniently sealed off with metal bars before anyone else could consider following his example. In other words, everyone was trapped.

While most of the students and teachers thought it was just a well-timed attack, Danny, Sam, Tucker and Valerie were not fooled. They knew what Vlad was going for, and that he really just duplicated himself and called the meeting as an excuse for everyone to be in one place.

The vampire ghost, Plasmius, flew through the crowd of students and picked up a random student who ended up being Lester, and then going back to the stage.

"Reveal yourself, Danny Phantom, or he dies." Plasmius threatened, aiming a large pink ectoplasmic orb at the terrified student.

Pretty much everyone in the Auditorium were now also frightened out of their minds, facing the very real possibility of death, and panicking over the fate of Lester.

Some people looked expectedly at Jake Williams, who looked like he just wet his pants.

"What are you doing? Go beat up this guy!" One random student with chocolate brown hair and dark brown eyes exclaimed, looking at Jake.

"Yeah! Please man, lives are at stake here." Another random student pleads.

"I-I'm not P-Phantom." Jake stutters, with a traumatized expression.

Those who thought Jake was Phantom gasped. "If it's not you, then who is it?"

"You have ten seconds, Phantom!" Plasmius yells menacingly, the orb getting closer and closer to Lester's head. Lester screamed.

Suddenly, a red blast shot Plasmius square in the chest and sent him crashing against a wall, causing his orb to dissipate and to lose his grip on Lester.

"Back off, Masters!" The Red Huntress hisses venomously. Plasmius looks shocked, and so does everyone else, even the mystery trio who didn't know Valerie discovered his secret.

The Huntress smirks. "Yeah, that's right, I know about your dirty little secret."

She then turns to the audience. "You heard me right, folks! Our mayor is a ghost! He duplicated himself and called a meeting to get everyone here in the same place at the same time!"

Mostly everyone gasped again, despite the earlier remark.

Vlad growls, and moves with superhuman speed, duplicating himself once more, with the duplicate grabbing the Huntress, and the original grabbing Lester. Both the original and the duplicate were aiming pink orbs at their respective targets. "You will regret doing that, _Valerie_." The duplicate holding the Huntress hissed, although the last part was a hushed whisper that only he and the Huntress could hear. She tried to escape his superhumanly strong grip, but was unable to break free.

"Last chance, Phantom! There's no one else to help you now!" Both Vlad's yell.

Danny, Sam and Tucker glanced at each other, all looking panicked.

"Are you going to do it?" Tucker whispered.

"I have no choice. My secret isn't worth the lives of two people." Danny whispered back.

He raised his whisper to a yell. "Alright, Vlad, you win!"

Everyone turned to look for the source, finding nothing. But then, Danny _Fenton_ stood up with an expression people have come to expect from Phantom: Determination.

He then did something that shocked nearly everyone to their core. _"I'm going ghost!"_

Two blue-ish white rings formed at his waist, one going up, the other going down. They continued spreading over his body until it wasn't Danny _Fenton_ standing there, but Danny _Phantom._

Gasps were heard and much, much more audible than before. Jaws dropped further than believed to be humanly possible. But Danny ignored it all, instead flying over to the stage, landing directly in front of Vlad.

In satisfaction, Vlad and his duplicate dropped their victims, both of them falling harshly onto the hard stage. Vlad then merged back with his duplicate.

"You have made a fatal mistake, Plasmius." Danny says dangerously and more seriously than anyone has ever heard. "You can target me all you want, but threatening to endanger innocent lives just to expose me?"

His eyes glowed brighter and more vibrant than ever before. And they glowed with _murderous rage_. "Well, I would really hate to be you right now." He threatens with the same dangerous tone, voice then fading into a threatening, otherworldly echo that sent chills down a lot of student's spines.

Turning around to face the body of students, losing the echo, he yelled, "Cover your ears!"

The students complied, and using all his strength and energy, he unleashed his ghostly wail, terrible green waves with the sound of unbelievable misery and sorrow pulsing towards the elder hybrid.

The strength of the wail caused both half-ghosts to detransform, which just added to all the pandemonium and disbelief. It also took out a good portion of the Auditorium.

Seizing his chance, Danny then sucked up Vlad into the Fenton Thermos, and taking a deep breath, he faced the audience once more.

"Um..." He didn't really know what to say. "Surprise?" He said lamely.

* * *

 **Not entirely sure what to think of this one, since I feel like stories like these might be a dime a dozen. I hope I've changed things up a little bit with having Danny being the one to slip up, though.**

 **And once again, I'd like to take a moment to thank all my reviewers and readers! I'd also like to give a shout-out to TheLazyWhiteCat since I still cannot PM them for their kind words and for reading and reviewing once more.**

 **But I greatly appreciate everyone who took the time out of their day to read my story and to leave a review. Thank you!**


	8. Bilingual

They really didn't mean to find out his secret. They really, _really_ didn't.

But when they saw Danny Fenton, who was supposed to be deathly terrified of ghosts and failing classes, talking to a gigantic green wolf (ironically later found to be named Wulf) in _Esperanto_ , the language the nerds decided to learn to have private conversations, their curiosity was piqued. It seemed nothing like the Danny they knew.

Hiding behind a dumpster, they listened carefully to the conversation.

" **Wulf?"** Danny asked, confused. **"What are you doing here? Walker isn't up to anything, is he?"**

The nerds, consisting of Mikey, Lester, Nathan, Katie and Cassandra gasped at the scene in front of them, luckily not being heard. Wimpy, nerdy, phasmophobic Danny Fenton, was having a casual conversation with a ghost. Alright, sure, they already knew he was talking to the ghost and talking in Esparanto before going and finding a place to hide, but it was still incredibly shocking, and the group of five still found their heads spinning.

Wulf sounded grave. **"Unfortunately, he is. He seems to be up to another plot to get you into trouble with the town."**

Trouble with the town? What did that mean? Cassandra wondered.

What is he talking about? Mikey pondered.

The other three seemed to be having similar thoughts as well, if their bewildered expressions revealed anything.

Danny cursed. **"Seriously? Wasn't framing me for holding the mayor hostage enough?"**

"I thought that was Phantom?" whispered an incredibly confused Katie.

"It was." Cassandra answered, just as confused.

"So what the heck are they talking about?" Lester asks in frustration.

"I don't know, we're going to have to keep listening." Mikey says, theories starting to form.

Danny then seemed to realize something. **"Wait! He's not planning to reveal my secret identity or anything, right?"**

The five students now felt migraines coming on. Secret identity? Danny Fenton had a secret identity? Why? How?

They were briefly broken out of their thoughts when the giant wolf answered, **"No, it gives the ghosts leverage over you, knowing you can't transform or use your powers in front of everyone. They don't want to give that up."**

Mikey suddenly gasped again, gears grinding in his mind. "No, it can't be..."

"Can't be what?" Lester questions.

"It was so obvious!" Mikey smacked himself on the head, and inadvertently raising his voice, he yells, _"Danny Fenton is Danny Phantom!"_

Unfortunately, that outburst got both Danny (who now looked incredibly panicked) and the giant wolf's attention.

It wasn't long until Danny walked over to the dumpster and found the five nerds hiding there.

Now looking even more panicked (if that was even possible), he anxiously asks, "H-how much d-did you hear?"

The teenagers exchange looks with each other, before settling on a final answer.

"All of it." Katie guiltily confesses.

Danny curses again. "So, I don't suppose I can bull my way out of this one?"

"Is that a confession?" Mikey asks, somewhat excitedly.

Danny then went back to being a nervous wreck. "A confession for what?"

He knew the answer, though. He was just trying to delay the soon to be endless questions and try to get time to maybe make up some really poorly baked (if at all baked) explanation. Sadly, he didn't find any. How in the Ghost Zone could he explain having a secret identity, having powers and the mayor hostage situation without it equaling to Danny Phantom?

"That you're Danny Phantom!" Mikey squeals, excitedly.

"Think I can get out of this one, Wulf?" Danny asks his friend in English, despite already knowing the response. Wulf shakes his head while Danny groans.

Danny then sighs. "Fine, you win. Yes, I'm Danny Phantom, but don't tell anyone!"

"O-of course not!" Mikey exclaims meekly. Then, suddenly losing his meekness, he started fanboying and saying how cool that he knew a superhero.

But Cassandra interrupted his nonstop squealing by asking, "Out of curiosity, how do you do it? Change, I mean. Do you dye your hair and put in contacts or something?"

Danny grins, seeming to lose most of his nervousness. "Why don't I show you?"

Then the other three (minus Cassandra, who was oddly calm about the whole thing) started squealing and fanboying (or fangirling, in Katie's case).

He takes a deep breath and then cried, _"I'm going ghost!"_

Reaching for the cold spot in his chest, he allowed the rings to spread over him.

Then even Cassandra couldn't hold it in and began to join in the squealing fest, while Danny kept blushing in embarrassment at the excitement.

It definitely could of gone a lot worse.

* * *

 **Cassandra and Katie are OCs I made up for the "nerd" group of Casper High. Also, phasmophobia is the fear of ghosts, for anyone curious.**


	9. Voice

She had been blind her entire life. She had been mocked and ridiculed for it and was often the target for tasteless blind jokes, but if anyone was the blind one around here, it was the rest of the town. She often muttered comments to herself about how she wonders who the blind one truly is, since she has always been able to discover (seemingly obvious) things that others couldn't, and sometimes, _wouldn't_.

Isa, though she was unable to see, her strengthened other senses, especially her superb hearing, more than made up for it. She could hear more than the average joe could, and she was excellent at voice recognition.

It did not take her long to discover Danny Fenton's little secret. Very few voices sounded alike, let alone the exact same. Both Danny's sounded the exact same, except Phantom's had a bit of an echo to it. But there was no mistake, it was the same voice. The only thing that was different was the echo, which could easily be explained as a ghostly side effect.

Though she would deny it to anyone who asked (and slug them in the face as a bonus), she did have a guilty pleasure of listening to comic books over the internet, or to any audible ones available in the public library.

Only her best friend, Alexandria, knew about her guilty pleasure, and she was sworn to absolute secrecy, even threatened. Alex didn't get why it was such a big deal, but knew that Isa was not one to be trifled with, friend or no, and so she quickly backed off and agreed to keep her secret. Isa was very strong willed, which was actually the exact meaning of her name. She was very headstrong too, and when she wanted to be, very threatening.

But she knew a lot about comic book superheroes. She was quite familiar with the tropes and cliches. Very few superheroes didn't have a secret identity to hide behind, and she was quite positive Danny Phantom's was Danny Fenton. The voices were too distinctive, and from what she had heard, they also looked strikingly similar, with a similar face shape and hairstyle, although the coloring was off. Inverted, apparently. Maybe he had some sort of transformation trinket or something or was able to somehow shift his appearance.

But for her, ultimately, it was the voice that gave him away. The echo didn't help disguise his voice very much, if at all, at least for her. She was aware of her hearing being better than most, but still, she couldn't help but think, _"Wow, people sure are dumb."_

But Isa was quite independent. Her only friend was Alexandria, an absolute nerd who always stared off into space and always rambled about the paranormal and her findings. But other than that, she was very much the loner type. She did not like to get involved unless it was absolutely necessary, so she didn't anything with her newfound knowledge. She would only step in if his secret was at stake.

But she and Alexandria tried to stay out of everyone's way, as best as they could. And sometimes, when Alex was rambling about her latest discovery, Isa would tune her out and instead easedrop on Fenton's "private" conversations when they thought no one else was listening. No disrespect to her friend or anything, but she found their conversations to be more amusing. And Isa didn't have the same passion for the supernatural her friend did, so sometimes her rambling got a bit repetitive. Although Alex was doing a bit better at talking about more normal topics lately. Really though, for an investigative, Alexandria was a pretty poor liar. Isa figured out that her friend had realized the truth as well, and was likely trying to divert her attention off of the paranormal so Isa didn't discover his secret, except she was a tad bit late on that one. Still, A+ for effort, she supposed.

As she sat with Alexandria at lunch, her lips curled into a smirk, while her friend was preoccupied drinking a bottle of water. She was far more observant than people gave her credit for. If his secret did ever somehow get out (and it was quite a possibility with his carelessness), she would have to admit to enjoying everyone's dumbfounded reactions. But unfortunately, as entertaining as such an event might be, she couldn't let that happen. She knew there were a bunch of nutty ghost hunters out for his blood (ectoplasm?) and were eager to "experiment" on him. Isa had a pretty strong stomach, but when she thought about it too much, even she felt like she was going to hurl. Though for some reason, the ghost hunters have been very silent recently, and she thought she had figured out why.

Alexandria probably used one of her weird supernatural magicky things again. Isa had to give the girl credit, she could pull off some rather spooky stuff when she wanted to. When the paranormal investigator thought she wasn't paying attention, she could feel the smugness coming from her friend whenever the student body talked about the mystery of the missing ghost hunters as of the past couple of days. Yep, it was definitely her.

But for the time being, she continued as she always had. Stayed out of the spotlight, ran to safety whenever a ghost attacked, and sometimes, when she was bored enough, she'd spy on people's conversations, especially those of the "golden trio", consisting of Danny, Sam and Tucker, and sometimes Danny's sister, Jazz. Though the A-Lister's stupidity was sometimes entertaining to listen to, when it didn't make her feel like she was losing brain cells. She also silently made bets with herself on when he'd give himself away, or when (or if) anyone else found out the big secret. Alexandria definitely knew, that crazy kid Wes absolutely knew, considering he was always yelling about Danny being Phantom even though nobody believed him, but she doubted they were the only ones.

And she was right. They weren't.

* * *

 **And that was Voice, the one-shot focusing on Isa! For anyone wondering, Isa is highly inspired from Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender, but she is not a carbon copy of Toph. Isa is her own unique character, even if she shares some traits with Toph, like her blindness. Isa is definitely no Earthbender or anything like that, though.**

 **Also, for those who are about to hit "review" to talk about Isa's facial expressions, that is not an oversight. Yes, Isa is still blind and can't actually see anything, but she's learned how to mimic facial expressions, and it's also done to better convey her character to the readers. She still relies on her other senses to get her through the day, though, as well as Alexandria to occasionally "be her eyes".**

 **Also, once again, I have replaced a former story in this collection (also called Voice) with an updated version. I changed the story to reflect Alexandria and Isa's friendship, and to try to better improve the quality.**

 **Now, all that aside, I wonder what that last line means? How very curious...**

 **Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough. ;)**


	10. Casual Friday

**Apologies about the slow update and any mild inconsistencies in this story. I tried rewatching Micro-Management for reference, although my computer was being a jerk and kept buffering every three seconds, so I didn't get through the entire episode, though I managed to get through most of it. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy! By the way, this takes place not too long after the episode. About a day or two after.**

* * *

Dash was not stupid.

Okay, sure, he wasn't exactly the most intelligent, either. Far from it. And he could be highly oblivious. But even he could be smart and observant when he set his mind to it. And even he could tell something was off about Danny Phantom. He was absolutely sure he was hiding something. But _what_?

That was precisely what kept him awake all night. He didn't know what. Or _why_ he was hiding something. He remembered seeing those strange blue-ish white rings change parts of his appearance. First came the "high speed ghost shoes", then the jeans and after that, his gloves and sleeves disappeared, revealing very slender, human arms and hands. And half of his hair reversed color, his usual snow white hair turning to an inky black. Something was very, very suspicious. And what was quite possibly even more suspicious were the comments he heard Phantom mutter under his breath when he didn't think he was listening.

But the one that bothered him the most? The comment about "reverting" back. Reverting back to _what_? He clearly knew what was going on, though, which just frustrated the athlete further. And why would Phantom try to convince him it was supposedly Casual Friday? Didn't he know it was Tuesday? Why was he trying to lie about the cause of the appearance changes?

Another thing that frustrated him to no end: How _familiar_ he seemed with the random clothing changes. Like he had seen him before with that mysterious (yet oddly casual) attire.

And then, it hit him. He had a secret identity. Well, either that, or he was reverting back to how he looked before his death. Dash bit his lip at that thought. Everyone knew that Danny Phantom was a ghost, but no one liked to think about his death, or his original identity. Was Danny even his actual name? How did he die in the first place? How old was he really? Those thoughts kept badgering him for a full hour, but after a lot of deliberation, he came to the secret identity conclusion, because it seems like he sees those clothes everyday, and he looked _way_ too familiar for it to have been a one time thing.

Although, why exactly would Danny Phantom have a secret identity? Or want one? Or even need one? It made no sense. Dash assumed, with the majority of Amity Park, that Phantom just went back to the ghost realm when he wasn't beating up ghosts. Although, granted, he probably wasn't exactly well-liked there. That, and he seemed so...human. Without the white hair, green eyes and glowing aura, he could of definitely passed for a human. His hands and arms even felt like they had bones! And on top of that, he always seemed to know what was going on in the human realm, and he didn't think Phantom could get that much information about the world from just from the few minutes he arrived because of a ghost fight. In fact, that actually led him to another thing: Phantom always seemed to know _exactly_ when a fight was taking place. Was that why he had a secret identity? To always be on guard in case a ghost decided to come and attack the town? It would be a plausible reason.

Dash suddenly groaned. He was exhausted, but sleep eluded him. He very rarely had the problem of insomnia. He suddenly felt sympathetic towards Fenton. Maybe that's why he was always falling asleep in class? Then, he scoffed. Feeling pity for Fentina? Yeah right. He was probably just up all night playing Doom or something.

Two more hours of fruitless thinking and frustration later, Dash finally fell asleep, with a new goal in mind: To discover who Phantom was hiding as.

* * *

Dash was grumpier than usual. He only got three hours of sleep before he headed to school. The dark bags were highly visible underneath his eyelids. A smirk flashed across his face, however, upon spotting the school famous "Loser Trio" that consisted of Danny Fenton, Tucker Foley and Sam Manson. Danny, however, was his favorite punching bag. Perhaps now he could release some of his misplaced aggression.

So, he walks over to the Loser Trio, and only catches a gist of their conversation.

"...woah, that was really lucky, dude." Tucker was saying.

"...lucky he didn't turn around." Sam was responding.

Danny looked like he was about to reply, but then Dash butted in. "FENTON!" He yelled angrily.

Danny turned around and sighed in exasperation. "Yes, Dash?"

The jock lifted Danny up (who now that he thought about it, was incredibly light) and was about to shove him into his locker until Dash _noticed_ something. He looked like a color-negative version of Danny Phantom. And Fenton was wearing the _exact same_ shoes and jeans he saw _Phantom_ wearing. They even sounded the same! And some of the things Phantom said yesterday finally, finally made sense.

" _Have you ever seen him play golf?" Phantom had said. "The only safe place is the hole!"_

He had ignored it at first, but it was implied that he had seen Jack play golf before. And while he was confused how he would possibly know that before, now, he could see why. If he literally lived...or afterlived, he wasn't sure anymore...there, it'd make perfect sense why he would ever see Jack playing golf.

"Um, Dash?" Danny asked, somewhat worriedly, snapping Dash out of his thoughts. "You kind of look like the walking dead and you just stood there for a full minute without shoving me in my locker. Everything alright?"

"I-it's you. It's been you the entire time..." Dash muttered, without even realizing what he was saying.

Danny looked panicked, and so did Sam and Tucker. "W-What do you mean?"

"You were him the whole time!" Dash shouted, catching the attention of a lot of students passing through the hallway who gave him weird looks before carrying on to class, figuring Dash finally cracked under the pressure and went crazy.

"What? That's crazy! Danny Fenton is definitely not Danny Phantom. You've lost your mind, Dash!" Tucker helpfully protested, which then gets him kicked in the ribs by Sam.

"You idiot!" She hisses.

Danny was also shooting him a death glare, which caused him to gulp. Danny had been getting better at sending those looks lately.

"The names even sound alike!" Dash wailed. "I've been wailing on my hero!"

Then, his expression turns to one of horror. "A-and you might not even b-be alive!"

Danny sighs and breaks out of Dash's grip. "I would normally try to make up some poor excuse on why you're wrong, but since Tucker here just blew it-" he sends another death glare towards the techno-geek, "-I don't think there is anything I can really do to convince you out of it. So, why don't we just talk about it this after school, alright?"

Dash just shakily nods, right as the bell rings.

Danny curses. "See you after school, Dash." he says as he and his friends then race off to first period.

* * *

Dash couldn't get anything done in class. His thoughts kept drifting to his recent discovery. That the kid he liked to bully might be _dead_. That he also probably had the power to kick his butt ten times over. That his own parents constantly hunted him. And, you know, that _Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom._

So, when class finally ended, he was relieved, yet nervous. He was relieved because he wouldn't have to stay up all night thinking about the recent events, constantly wondering about who Phantom was hiding as and trying to decipher the meanings behind his words, but he was nervous because he wasn't sure he was going to like the answers he was going to get, or if he really wanted to know the truth after all.

Still, he couldn't back out of it now. If he didn't, he was going to regret it for the rest of his life. And his thoughts would continue to drive him insane. So, he searched for Danny, and found him hanging around a tree with his friends for backup. Taking a deep breath, he approached them.

"Hey Fe-" Dash stopped himself. "-Danny."

Danny attempted a weak smile. "Hey Dash."

This was it. This was his chance. _Don't waste it, Baxter,_ he chided himself. But Danny beat him to the punch. "How did you figure it out?"

"I stayed up all night thinking about when we got shrunk." Dash admitted. "I was thinking about the weird costume changes and those strange comments Ph-" He stopped himself again. It was still odd to think of them as the same person. "-You made."

Danny cursed himself again. "I really need to come up with better excuses. I mean, come on. Casual Friday? High speed ghost shoes? _Really_?"

Tucker stifled laughter. "Dude, please don't tell me you actually said that."

Even Sam was laughing now. "That's got to be the worst excuse you've made yet."

"I was in a hurry and I couldn't think of anything else!" Danny defended.

Now Dash was giggling, much to the surprise of the three. But remembering the circumstances, his face took on a rare, serious expression, and he finally asked one of the things bothering him all day. "Y-you're not _dead_ , are you?"

Danny looked horrified. "No! Not at all! What gave you that idea?"

Sam and Tucker facepalm at Danny's cluelessness, although they too look very disturbed at the thought of their best friend being dead.

Dash let out a breath he wasn't holding. He was relieved beyond words, but also very, very confused. "You're not? But then, what are you? How can you do all those ghostly things if you're not a ghost?"

Danny sighed. "I'm a hybrid. Half-human, half-ghost."

He...was not expecting that answer. "Is that even possible?"

Danny laughed mirthlessly. "Apparently it is. I'm still here. The freak who doesn't belong in either world."

Sam immediately went to comfort him. "Danny! You know that's not true. Your powers make you unique. Unique is good!"

Her comment doesn't seem to have helped Danny. He looked...weary. Like a hardened war veteran. Like he had seen terrible things, which he probably had. Dash wasn't sure what to say, although guilt started to consume him. Just how many times had _he_ called Fenton a freak? He bet that certainly didn't help his seemingly low to nonexistent self esteem. Tucker didn't seem to know what to do, either. Guess it was up to him, then. Maybe this was how he could correct his many wrongs. By helping instead of hurting.

"You're not a freak, Danny." Dash said, voice uncharacteristically soft. "You know, I never actually did mean it whenever I insulted you. The truth is-" He paused. Was he really going to admit it? He then figured that Danny deserved the truth for why he was always bullied so relentlessly. "-I was jealous."

Danny's eyes bulged, and so did Tucker's. Sam looked like she was going into shock.

Dash continued, "You were everything I wasn't. You were handsome, loyal, friendly. And you had genuine friends there to support you. I'm not delusioned enough to think Paulina actually cares about me." He bitterly laughed. "She's obsessive over your ghost half. It's literally all she talks about now."

"What about Kwan?" Danny asks softly, though still in shock.

"He always dismisses my problems like they don't exist. Or matter." Dash says bitterly. "But we're not here to talk about me."

Danny reached out and placed a comforting hand on Dash's shoulder. "You're really not anything at all like the jock you pretend to be, are you?"

Dash shook his head. "No. Not really."

Danny took a deep breath. "Looks like I'm not the only one hiding behind masks."

Dash nods. "Guess not." he says awkwardly.

There was silence for a few seconds, before Danny finally filled it. "Do you want to be a part of Team Phantom?"

The athlete thought he was going into shock again. "Even after everything I've done?"

Danny smiles. "Everyone deserves a second chance. Besides, you don't really seem like you truly wanted to do the things you did."

Dash smiled for the first time in a long while. "I would be honored."

* * *

 **I tried humanizing Dash a bit more in that he only bullied Danny to try to counter his jealously over him, unsuccessfully. In this story, Dash is only in the popular crowd so he doesn't have to be alone, and he bullies for the sake of maintaining his reputation, and again, to try to get rid of the envy he feels. Dash mostly envied Danny for his friends, since they genuinely cared about him, unlike his own, and unlike seemingly everyone else in the school, although he also secretly is suffering from low self-esteem, and was jealous of how Danny could be the person he felt he never could be himself.**


	11. Mist

Paulina was not known for her intelligence, but even _she_ could tell something was off about that Fenton kid.

Pretty much everyone in his class has noticed that after some weird accident in his parent's lab, he's been acting very strangely. Always missing class, always falling asleep, never turning in homework or class assignments, and the infamous "bathroom" visits where he'd disappear for long periods of time and always returning out of breath, and sometimes even seeming to be in pain. And while Sam and Tucker, for as long as she had known them, had always been really close to Danny, now, they seemed absolutely inseparable. And those furtive and worried glances they would always send each other, all their whispered and silent conversations they'd have when they didn't think anyone was listening...

Just when did she begin to notice all of this? After all, Paulina was thought to be "dumb" and "oblivious" by many, only known for her looks and popularity. And although Paulina was too prideful to admit it to anyone, she was fully aware of that fact. She knew she wasn't all that smart, and she knew that she wasn't very observant, either. But now, she seemed to constantly be watching "the secret trio" as others have dubbed them, like a hawk.

She blamed her curiosity. But most of all, she blamed that strange, icy blue mist that she would see coming out of Danny's mouth every so often, for her sudden obsession and scrutiny.

The same mist she saw Danny Phantom having when she and the other high school students were stuck in that hospital with some odd ghost flu.

But that was impossible, right? It was just a coincidence, wasn't it?

It wasn't like Danny secretly possessed ghost powers. That was just silly.

But then, how did she explain the mist? It wasn't like it was cold in the classroom or anything, so she doubted it was just his breath.

Wait a moment. She remembered that Danny Phantom called it a "ghost sense". And Danny was always disappearing right before a ghost attack...

She gasped. Could he have a ghost sense? But how? It was a ghost power. He was a _human_ , not a _ghost_.

But really, what else could it have been? As she mentioned before, it was rarely cold enough in the school for people to be seeing their own breath. And oddly enough, Danny didn't even seem to be all that effected by the cold, either. And that mist always, always showed up _just_ before a ghost attack.

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Alright. So Fenton had a ghost sense. All the evidence pointed to it. Now the question was, _how_?

Because, as stated before, it was a _ghost_ power. And Danny was not a ghost. She has seen him breathing, eating, and she was pretty sure he slept, too. At least, he did in class. She wasn't sure how much sleep he got at home.

Was it possible that something happened after the accident? He was absent for a long time, and that's when all his weird behavior started. And it's well known just who his parents are. Scientists, inventors, ghost hunters...

Wait a moment...ghost hunters. They were _ghost hunters_.

Was his body contaminated with ectoplasm? And yes, she actually does know what ectoplasm is. Don't act so surprised. With her obsessive crush on Phantom, she began researching and studying a lot about ghosts to impress him and to better understand her future boyfriend. Plus, what if one day he got seriously injured after a ghost fight and needed medical assistance? If she doesn't even know anything about how a ghost's biology and anatomy works, how would she be able to help him?

But from her research, all the books and articles always explicitly stated and explained that it was impossible for a human to have ghost powers. Blood and ectoplasm cannot coexist inside a body, they would get into a "war" of sorts with each other until the person either dies from ectoplasm poisoning or the ectoplasm is removed from their system, if the blood is more dominant than the ectoplasm.

But how did the ghost sickness she and the other students have tie in to all of this? If it wasn't possible for humans to have ghost powers, how could that sickness they temporarily developed be explained?

And then there was the same infuriating question: How was it possible for him to have a ghost sense without being a ghost or being deathly ill? It continuously baffled her and kept her up nights at a time, constantly trying to find an explanation why.

Eventually, however, Paulina realized something: Danny was one of the few people unaffected by the ghost bug, yet still had the sense. And Danny Phantom was the _only_ ghost known to have said sense.

And that started a domino chain of realizations, including the fact that her classmate and the resident ghost boy shared a name, and looked incredibly alike. And that Fenton was never around when Phantom was. And everything slowly began to make sense, as she came to an impossible conclusion: _Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom were one in the same._

It was impossible, or at least supposed to be, but it made so much sense. If he was always busy fighting ghosts, of course he would miss a lot of class, and of course he would be missing out on sleep and constantly fighting off pain. If he had the power to willingly go intangibility, of course he'd be able to quickly escape from the lockers Dash constantly shoved him in. And if he was always spending his time fighting, of course his friends would be worried and becoming a lot more closer and protective of Danny.

Paulina began to feel horrible after that revelation. She and the other A-Listers were always so nasty to him and his friends, and she constantly pushed him away when he tried to talk to her, when he was really the only thing standing against the possibility of the town becoming nothing but rubble from the ghost attacks, and the one protecting them all. And if she hadn't been so nasty and dismissive of him, she could have had him a lot sooner, too. But now, she might have lost her chance.

Still, one thing was certain. Paulina was going to clean up her act, and become a better person. No more bullying or harassing Danny or the other nerds, and she was going to try to stop pining after him. After all, she couldn't even recognize her own crush, and she had come to the unsettling realization she only liked him for his ghost half, and because he had saved her, and for his appearance. She didn't truly love him. It was just a _crush_.

No wonder Sam called her shallow. Turns out the "goth freak" was right after all.

But she wasn't going to be shallow or mean anymore. Instead, she would become a silent protector for the one who had saved them all, and she wouldn't allow anyone in the school to harass Danny and his friends anymore. At least maybe _then_ she'd be making somewhat of a difference.

It was the least she could do, after all. And if Paulina could be classified as anything remotely positive other than "pretty", it would be _determined_.

And Paulina was determined to help. And so, she will.

He deserved it after all he has done for them and this town, even if he couldn't know about it.

* * *

 **I want to apologize for the long unexplained hiatus. I was planning to update a lot sooner and a lot more consistently, but I lost some of my documents and I've been busy with life and suffering from every writer's worst nightmare: Writer's Block.**

 **Still, I'm going to try to be better at updating for now on, but I can't promise anything. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed this update, and I apologize if I got any canonical details incorrect (I wrote this chapter based off of what I remember from the episode) or if the over-italicization annoys you. I tend to italicize a lot for emphasis and for more of an emotional impact.**

 **Also, a big thank you to _joggerwriting_ for their review! Their kind words helped me to get off my butt and update again. Thank you so much! Seriously, I appreciate it. You rock.**

 **Anyway, that's all I've really got for now. Thank you for reading!**


	12. Cautious

_**Hey look! I'm alive!**_

 _ **My sincere apologies about the wait. This chapter was meant to go up a lot sooner, but the original version of it was stored on another computer (which I no longer have access to) so I was forced to rewrite this all the way from scratch. In addition, I've been busy with life and I'm having trouble finding some time to sit down and just write. But, after several months, Cautious is finally here!**_

 _ **I hope that you enjoy this chapter. If you don't already know, this is an extended version of Careful. Enjoy!**_

* * *

Mr. Lancer sighed, boredly watching the security camera footage.

They hadn't had to check the footage for a long time, but since some random burglar broke in not too long ago and stole some computers (why he broke into a school to steal computers was beyond him), he was under orders to check the camera footage.

He had so far been at it for half an hour, and he had found absolutely... _nothing_. Well, nothing of interest, at least. No crazy people in ski masks or anything of the like were seen on the footage he had watched. Just the normal hustle and bustle of high school life, and unfortunately, a lot of the other footage was of the jocks like Dash constantly bullying others like Danny and the "nerds" like Mikey. Lancer always winced in sympathy when he saw those clips, but alas, due to Dash being the star quarterback for the Casper High Ravens, he wasn't able to do anything about it.

He sighed again, taking a sip from his bottle of water, before skipping over to the next clip.

This one seemed to be of a conversation between Star and Paulina in the hallway.

"So, like, I totally, like, kissed him!" Star was gushing.

"Really? Like, no, like, freaking way!" Paulina responded.

He sat through several more minutes of similar dialogue, until he went to the next one, which appeared to be outdoors.

"So, do _you_ like quarterbacks?" Dash tried to flirt.

The girl he attempted to flirt with, who Lancer recognized as Alexandria, a loner, simply stared back in unimpressed boredom before walking away without so much as a reply.

Lancer couldn't help but feel amused at that one.

He continued onwards, finding another clip in the hallway. This one was of the "mystery trio", which consisted of Danny, Sam and Tucker. They seemed to just be walking casually to their class, when Dash and his buddies approached them.

"FENTON!" Dash practically screamed. "I got an F in Spanish! Do you know what that means?"

"That you're an idiot?" Sam supplied.

Dash's face turned a hot red from anger, and he walked towards Sam menacingly, or, at least, what he _perceived_ as menacing. "You're lucky I don't hit girls, Manson," he growled, "not that you're much of one anyway."

Now Sam was angry. "Why, you! I-"

"Uh, Dash?" One of his buddies called out nervously, interrupting the goth. "I know that Sam's a geek too and all, but didn't you come here for Fenton?"

Dash backed away from Sam, and he seemed to quickly get over his past anger towards her as he smirked. "Why, yes. I believe I did."

He then proceeded to shove Daniel into the locker before giving it a loud slam. "See you later, Fentoad!" He then walked away, giggling with his buddies.

Tucker turned over to Sam once they were gone. "Should we let him out?"

Sam shook her head. "No, we don't even have a minute before class starts. If we don't hurry, we'll get detention. Besides, Danny can get out himself."

Tucker nodded. "Right. Well, we better go hurry!"

They then raced down the hall, desperate not to get a detention.

"Thanks a lot, guys." A sarcastic voice easily recognized as Danny quipped from the confines of his locker. "Oh well. Guess we'll have to do it the old fashioned way."

Before Lancer could wonder what the "old fashioned way" even was, Danny emerged back in the hallway after _literally walking through his locker._ Lancer nearly fell out of his seat. Danny Fenton, his _student_ , a _human_ , had just turned _intangible_. A power that was exclusive to _ghosts_.

 _What was going on here?!_

Did his parents experiment on him? Was it a result of that mysterious accident from the portal? Is Daniel...dead?

Lancer started to hyperventilate. Oh god, _his student might be dead_ , _his student had ghost powers_ , oh god oh god oh god...

 _Calm down, Edward!_ A voice in his mind said. _You still have more footage to go through! You can freak out about Daniel later._

The voice was right. Freaking out wasn't going to get him anywhere. Taking a few moments to breathe in and out helped to calm his nerves, although he was still very unsettled, but he figured that going through more of the footage might help distract him from it, and maybe even track down the burglar.

The teacher then went to the next clip, which happened to be in the boy's bathroom. And before you ask, yes, they did have cameras in the bathrooms. But not in the stalls, mind you! That was just disgusting. Edward shuddered at the horrors he might have to endure while watching this clip, but quickly shook it off and braced himself.

And when the clip played, there was nothing. The bathroom was completely vacant. No one was using the stalls, using the urinal (ew), or washing their hands. Absolutely nothing was happening.

But after around a minute of silence and inactivity, and before Lancer was about to go to the next clip, screams of terror broke out through the school and it sounded as if people were rushing out of the building, presumably because of a ghost attack. And then, not long after, Danny Fenton ran into the bathroom, looking uncharacteristically determined.

Lancer found himself yet again in a state of perplexity. What on Earth was Daniel doing in the bathroom during a ghost attack? He didn't even look like he needed to go! Although to be fair, he never seemed like he needed to go in his class, either. He always seemed panicked, annoyed, frustrated or like he had some sort of higher responsibility that he had to attend to that no one could possibly understand. It was very, very strange.

The teacher was about to get his answer though, as Danny quickly scanned the room to check if anyone happened to be watching or hiding in there, before raising his fists in the air as two halo shaped rings formed around his waist. Not too long after, the rings finished spreading and in Daniel's place was the town hero (or menace, depending on your viewpoint) Danny Phantom.

This time, Lancer _did_ fall out of his seat.

" _Phantom of the Opera!"_

* * *

 _ **Spoiler Alert: The "burglar" that stole the computers was actually Technus.**_


	13. Deception

_**This chapter is currently under revision and will soon be replaced by the new (hopefully) final version. Apologies for the inconvenience! This will be deleted as soon as the new replacement chapter is ready.**_


	14. Password

**Hey look, an update!**

 **I'm really sorry it took so long. It really wasn't supposed to, and I know I've been saying I've been getting over my writer's block, but still fail to update, and I am incredibly sorry for that as well. I will truly try to be better about it, but this time I won't make any actual promises and give you all false hope.**

 **Also, I haven't watched this episode or the series in quite a while, so some details might be off, so please bear with me if I'm slightly off on a couple of things.**

 **And without further ado, here's the next story listed in the Table of Contents. Enjoy!**

* * *

Danny and Valerie were studying together in the living room of Fentonworks, having been paired up for a history project together. Jazz was also nearby, flipping through a psychology book filled with complicated words and phrases that would make the average person's head spin, although she made sure to keep a close eye on Valerie at the same time, knowing of her huntress secret.

"There," Valerie exclaimed proudly, "We're almost done! Just around a half hour longer and we should be good to go!"

Danny grinned. "We're going to get the best grade in the class for sure!"

Valerie chuckled softly. "That might be a little optimistic, but yeah, we're going to do great!"

They then went back to working, until a blue wisp flew out of Danny's mouth, causing him to groan. Valerie looked at him in worry.

Danny chucked nervously. "Heh, I just realized I really have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back!"

He then practically flew upstairs without waiting for a response, as Valerie watched in worry but also in suspicion. Danny was always leaving to "go to the bathroom", only she knew full well that going to the bathroom didn't take a full half hour or longer to do. Something weird was going on, and whatever it was, she knew it wasn't good.

Suddenly, a radical idea popped into her mind. _Why don't you look for clues in his bedroom? Maybe that will give you an idea of what's wrong._

Valerie mentally shook her head. No, she couldn't do that. She'd be invading her friends privacy. But...on the other hand, she was really worried for him and it seemed like he was involved in something really detrimental to his health. Maybe it was for the best if she took a look...

Valerie made up her mind. "I actually have to go to the bathroom too. Do you have a spare one I can use?"

Jazz looked at her suspiciously, with narrowed eyes. Valerie plastered on a fake smile.

There was a moment of silence, but Jazz finally relented, trying to shake off her apprehension. "Upstairs, right next to Danny's room."

"Thanks!" And off Valerie went. It wasn't long until she reached Danny's room.

She started looking around. There was a lot of space-themed stuff in here, but there didn't seem to be much else of interest. Although...her eyes fell upon his computer. Maybe his search history had a few clues as to what was wrong with him...

 _Woah there, Val!_ Her mind said. _First his room, now his computer? Isn't that a little much?_

She sighed. She knew it was an invasion of privacy, but it might be the only way to find out what's wrong. She's tried questioning Danny about it on multiple occasions, but he would never tell her what was wrong. And what if it was something really bad he was dealing with, like depression? She _had_ to do this.

She made her way over to the computer, sitting on the chair. She powered it on, and came up to the dialogue box asking for the password. Remembering Danny's crush on Paulina and some conversations she heard between her former friends, she typed in "Paulina Fenton".

She was then greeted by an image of Danny sticking out his tongue and another dialogue box. "Nice try, Jazz!"

Valerie was then taken back to the password screen. Huh. So Danny might of finally gotten over his superficial crush on Paulina. Or his password was just too easy to crack.

 _Well then,_ she grinned, _time for plan B._ She tried "Sam Fenton" this time, and unlike her last attempt, she was actually brought to the desktop, which meant she had guessed correctly.

She then rolled her eyes. They really were lovebirds.

As she was about to go to chrome (she thought internet explorer sucked), her eyes fell upon something interesting. An icon on the desktop called "Ghost Zone".

Valerie looked at it in disbelief. Why would that be on Danny's computer? Maybe it was some sort of backup file the Fentons kept on their sons computer in case it got deleted somehow on the lab one?

Whatever the case, her interest was piqued. She clicked on the icon, and several folders popped up. _Allies, Neutral, Enemies, Ghost Zone, Biology, Other._

What was all this?

Valerie decided to start with "Allies". Several more folders came up. Frostbite and his Kingdom, Pandora, Dora and Dani Phantom. Valerie's eyes widened. _No way._

They _knew_ about Dani? How?

She was curious about the other folders too, as she's never heard of such ghosts before, but she actually knew Dani, and was curious to find out how either Danny or the Fentons knew about her, so she clicked on the folder as the file began to load. It only took a few moments until the loading was complete.

 **Name:** Danielle 'Dani' Fenton/Phantom.

 **Age:** 1 (chronologically), 12 (biologically)

 **Species:** Half-Human, Half-Ghost

 **Strengths:**

 **Weaknesses:** Instability (formerly). Due to being a clone, before being injected with the ecto-dejecto, Dani would start melting if she strained herself too much with her powers.

 **Powers:** Transformation, ghost sense, intangibility, invisibility, flight, overshadowing, superhuman strength, stamina, reflexes and healing, spectral body manipulation, ghost ray.

 **Background Information:** So, turns out Vlad finally got the message that I wasn't going to betray my father and become his perfect half-ghost son. Problem is, he decided to try to create his own. All of the clones were brainless and melted into goop almost immediately upon trying to use their powers, except for Dani. Vlad had tricked her into doing his bidding and into betraying me, viewing her as a "failed" clone and wanting to get a mid-morph DNA sample from me so he could create his own "perfect" Danny Phantom. Thankfully, Dani caught on after Vlad openly called her an imperfection and together, we managed to beat the tar out of Vlad. I didn't see her again until Vlad tricked Valerie into thinking she was out to get him, and to try to melt her into goop like the other clones. Thankfully, I managed to convince Valerie to help me rescue her and get her stabilized. Then, after beating up Vlad again and pulling a prank on me with Valerie, she flew off dramatically, and I haven't seen her again since. I hope she's alright. I swear I will _kill_ Vlad if he ever lays a finger on her ever again!

After reading the files contents, Valerie was left gaping. None of this made any sense. It sounded like Danny Phantom himself had written it, and he had also mentioned being half-ghost...and Vlad wanting him to betray his father? And Dani was a clone of him the entire time? But why did it also list her as being a "Fenton" then?

What on Earth was going on?

Suddenly, the door opened wide, causing Valerie to let out a panicked yelp, as a battered and bruised Danny Fenton walked inside, looking at the floor and carrying a Fenton Thermos.

"Stupid Skulker," He muttered, "Can't he go five minutes without trying to get my pelt?"

He then looked up, still annoyed, now noticing Valerie. He froze up, and he paled ."Oh, h-hello, Valerie! What are you doing here?"

Her mouth continued to hang open, not believing the scene in front of her. Danny Fenton, bruised and battered, carrying a Fenton Thermos, and acting indignant because of a ghost? He was acting almost like...

 _Danny Phantom._

Valerie then began to pale, as she reached the inevitable conclusion, and her eyes were wide. "It was you the whole time!" She said in bewilderment, voice barely above a whisper. "You're Danny Phantom!"

Danny's eyes were wider than golfballs, and he rubbed his neck nervously and tried to hide his panic, but failed miserably. "What are you talking about? Me, a ghost? Don't be silly!"

But Valerie wasn't falling for it, as one realization lead to another, like a bunch of dominoes."It all makes sense now! The disappearances, the bruises, how you knew my name...everything!"

And then, tears flooded from her eyes. "And you betrayed me! You were the one who had the dog destroy my house, and you were the one who unmasked me in front of my dad!"

Sorrow fading to anger, she glared at him, but her eyes were still red and puffy. "How could you?"

Danny looked at her, looking ashamed and remorseful. "I'm so sorry, Valerie." He whispered, his voice barely audible. "I never meant for you to find out like this."

Her glare only intensified. "No, you never meant for me to find out, period! You used me!"

Danny looked taken aback by the accusation. "I would never do that!"

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR LIES!" Valerie summoned her suit forth, and aimed a bazooka towards him with grim determination, trying to hide her pain. "And you aren't going to terrorize this town anymore! Say goodbye, ghost boy!"

Her former friend looked up at her with fear. "Valerie, wait!"

She only continued to look at him murderously. "YOU PUSHED ME TOO FAR, PHANTOM!" Aiming the bazooka straight towards his skull, she fired.

Alarmed, Danny just scarcely managed to hover himself in the air enough to evade the missile in time, hitting the wall instead. And now, _he_ looked angry. "VALERIE, JUST LISTEN TO ME!" He yelled.

The huntress didn't seem to hear him though, and only growled at him inhumanly, and took aim once more. He dodged again, the missile striking down more of the wall.

Danny was fed up with her impulsive and "shoot first, ask questions never" attitude by now, though. His eyes began to glow a radioactive green. "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The huntress and her bazooka were encased in an eerie green glow. The bazooka forcefully crashed into another section of the wall at lightning speed, and then fell to the floor, broken and beyond repair. Valerie, however, was still stuck hovering in mid-air. She struggled, trying to gain control of her body, but she couldn't. It was like she was paralyzed.

"Valerie, listen to me!" He shouted angrily. "I know this is a lot to take in at once, and yes, I am Phantom. But I never used you, and I never tried to hurt you intentionally!"

 _All lies,_ she thought, still trying to break free of his telekinetic grip on her. _Ghosts always lie. Ghosts always lie._

"That dog wasn't mine!" He continued. "I was trying to stop him! But back then, I had hardly any control of my powers, and I wasn't powerful enough, and so he wrecked your house and caused your dad to lose his job."

 _Lies,_ she chanted to herself again. _Lies!_

"I unmasked you because if you took control of that suit, then you would have died! It was better for someone who was already half-dead to begin with to take control. And even then, I almost died myself!" He yelled, his voice rising.

"But despite everything, I understood why you hated me, and I still really enjoyed being your friend! I knew there was more to you than just being a ghost hunter!" Now he was beginning to cry.

"As for the mayor, he was overshadowed! Didn't you notice how his eyes were red? I had to shoot him to free him from the ghosts control!" His eyes were beginning to turn bloodshot.

"And I never robbed those banks! A creepy guy called Freakshow controlled me with some freaky orb staff thing! He even had other ghosts under his control too, until I managed to destroy it."

Now, he was full on bawling. "I know I lied to you, Valerie, and I'm sorry. But I was so worried you would hate me if you knew the truth. But I know I deserve it." Then, he released her from his control and put his hands up in surrender, and closed his eyes "And if you want to kill me, then I understand. Here's your chance."

Valerie looked at him, and then at her hands. He sounded genuine, like he was really sorry and never meant for things to go this far, but how many times had he lied to her in the past? Could she really trust him?

She summoned another gun, and aimed it at him, preparing to fire. She was expecting him to hear and for him to book it while he still could, but he made no sign of movement. He was as still as a statue, and his heads were still raised in surrender, as if accepting his fate. Her resolve faltered, and she began to tear up again. But ultimately...

She dropped the gun, letting it fall to the floor, and dismissed her suit. She then ran over, and hugged him. His eyes opened this time, and he looked surprised. "You're...hugging me? Why?"

Valerie was still tearing up, but she managed to crack a smile. "Because you're my friend, doofus."

"Even after all that?" He asked, incredulous.

She nodded. "Even after all that." Her smile faded for a moment. "I would still like more of an explanation, though. And I'll need some time to recover from this."

He nodded as well. "Fair enough. So, uh, friends?"

She punched him playfully, causing him to cry out in pain, until she chuckled. "Friends."

Then, she remembered something. _The files!_ An idea dawned upon her.

"Hey, Danny, now that I know your secret, do you mind if I take a look at some of your other files?" She asked. Maybe if she had more information, she could become a better ghost hunter and help take some of the load off of Danny. She _did_ pay attention to all of his fights on TV. She kind of had to if she wanted to get her vengeance, because otherwise he was as elusive as, well, a ghost. Poor kid was fighting day and night. He must be exhausted.

He grinned. "Of course, but first, I want your help with something."

Valerie raised an eyebrow. "Um, sure. With what?"

He grinned even wider, booted up the computer again, and opened up PhotoShop, with a picture of Vlad in his ghost form. "Help me vandalize this." He said with an evil grin.

Valerie smirked evilly. "It would be my pleasure."

And so, after an hour of laughter and snickering, the two had finished their task. Vlad was now wearing a pink tutu, had a clown nose, was wearing makeup, was sporting a fake mustache and had a flower on his head, which looked absolutely ridiculous with his original menacing pose and his fangs sticking out. And on the bottom right of the picture, was one simple phrase. "Rawr."

The two had a feeling this was the beginning of a much stronger friendship.

* * *

 **If you're wondering why Jazz didn't intervene, she ended up going to the Library shortly after Valerie went into his room. As for Maddie and Jack, they were in the lab, which I think I remembered being as soundproof. Tucker and Sam are elsewhere.**

 **Also, I don't actually believe Danny is half-dead, and Danny himself (in this story at least) doesn't fully believe it either, but he is still lost on what being a half-ghost entirely means. He just knew he would be able to handle the suits power better than Valerie could, considering his condition. And I don't actually know if there really is a bathroom next to Danny's room in the show. I have a bad memory, but chances are there probably isn't, but for the sake of this story, I think it'll work.**

 **On another note, I've been trying my hand at writing darker stories, so some of my future stories may not be as lighthearted as my previous ones. But I still have no plans to write anything like a dissection reveal one-shot or anything. We have enough stories like that already, and I think that'd be a little too dark for me to handle, and beyond my knowledge.**

 **And no, I don't own PhotoShop either. If I did, I'd be rich.**


End file.
